The Children's Crusade

The Children's Crusade
is one of the more unusual events in Medieval England.
The Children's Crusade took place after the
Fourth Crusade. By the end of the Fourth Crusade (1202 to 1204), it was clear
that the Christian crusaders had gained no long term success. In fact, the Fourth
Crusade had been a disaster for the Christians as many crusaders had not even
got to the Holy Land let alone fight for Jerusalem. Many Christians had used
the crusade as a means to plunder valuable goods from abroad. The
Children's Crusade seemed to put some Christian belief back into crusading.

Two groups appeared in 1212 which seemed to
indicate that the beliefs of the First Crusade were still alive.

In 1212, two groups - one from France, the other
from Germany - set off on a crusade to the Holy Land. There was nothing unusual
about this as many 'armies' had gathered before to fight the Muslims. The major
difference about these two groups was that they were composed entirely of young
children. These children became convinced that they would be protected by God
and that because of this protection they would get to the Holy Land and take
Jerusalem for the Christians.

Not a great deal is known about the Children's
Crusade other than it was a disaster. The person who seemed to be in charge was
a boy called Stephen of Cloyes. We know very little about him. We know that
he was a shepherd and that in 1212 he was 12 years of age. With a peasant's
background, he would not have been able to read or write and at his age he would
have done very basic work around a farm.

In May 1212, it is said that he turned up at the
court of King Philip of France and told him that he had a letter from Christ
ordering him to organise a crusade. Not surprisingly, King Philip was not
impressed by the 12 year old and told him to go away and come back when he was
older!!

Regardless of this rejection, Stephen went around
preaching to children about his letter from Jesus and his desire to go to the
Holy Land to capture Jerusalem. He told his followers that crossing the
Mediterranean or any other waterways was easy as the waters would part and they
would walk across as they were protected by God. By June 1212, Stephen is said
to have gathered 30,000 followers around him - all children.

As they marched south through France, they
clearly had no idea of what to expect. Adults cheered them along the route. It
was as if their innocence shone through and made their success a certainty.

The Roman Catholic Church was not so sure. The
Children's Crusade was never officially a crusade as it was never blessed by the
pope. However, this did not deter the children. The Church could not bless a
'crusade' that was doomed to failure but the Church also did not stop it. Why ?
It is possible that the Church believed that the actions of the children might
shame kings and emperors into getting a proper crusade going to capture
Jerusalem.

The Children's Crusade was doomed to failure.
Many of the children had never walked such distances before and for many the
effort proved too much. The journey from Vendome to Marseilles caused many
children to drop out. Some even died of exhaustion. The sea did not part as
Stephen had said and they had to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat.

The children boarded seven boats in Marseilles
and that was the last anything was heard of them.

However many years later a priest returned from
traveling around northern Africa and he claimed to have met some of the
surviving children (now adults). He claimed that two of the seven ships had sunk
killing all on board and that pirates had captured the other five ships and the
children were sold into slavery. White skinned children were considered to be a
valuable prize in Algerian and Egyptian slave markets.

There is no proof that any of this is true as
none of the children who left Marseilles ever returned. As a priest, it is
unlikely that he would have knowingly told a lie as Catholic priests would have
believed that God is omnipresent (everywhere) and omnipotent (all powerful).
Therefore if he told a lie, God would know and he would have been condemned to
Hell. However, he may have been told incorrect information and told this story
in good faith not knowing if it was incorrect. As historians, we just do not
know.

A German Children's Crusade also took place in
1212. This was lead by a boy called Nicholas and he had 20,000 followers.
His dream was exactly the same as Stephen's - take Jerusalem for Christianity.
This crusade also included religious men and unmarried women so it was not fully
a Children's Crusade. Their journey south from Germany to Italy included a very
dangerous crossing of the Alps and many died of the cold here. Those that
survived pushed onto to Rome in Italy.

Here, they met the pope. He praised their bravery
but told them that they were too young to take on such a venture. With this,
they returned to Germany but a great many of them did not survive the journey
back. A few stopped off at the Italian port of Pisa and boarded a ship for the
Holy Land. No-one knows what happened to them.

Therefore both crusades can be seen as a disaster
but they are also an indication of how important Jerusalem was to Christians.